TRENTON – Attorney General Christopher S. Porrino and the Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor (OIFP) announced today that a U.S. postal employee from Hudson County has been charged with using the stolen identities of postal employees and others to file fraudulent insurance claims for jewelry and other items he falsely declared stolen.
Kayson Allen, 33, of Jersey City, was indicted on second-degree charges of insurance fraud, identity theft, and trafficking in stolen identities for allegedly obtaining the personal information of others and using it to manufacture phony identification cards and file four fraudulent insurance claims totaling more than $14,000. He was also indicted on third-degree charges of theft by deception and attempted theft by deception in the indictment handed up by a state grand jury in Trenton on Friday.
Allen, a janitorial employee of the United States Postal Service (USPS) who worked in the Trenton Processing and Distribution Center, allegedly manufactured a cache of fraudulent identities using information stolen from personnel records at the Trenton facility.
“This defendant exploited his position as a government employee to gain access to the personal information of others, which he then allegedly parlayed into a series of false identities used to carry out his crimes,” said Attorney General Porrino. “It is especially disturbing that he callously preyed on fellow postal workers as unwitting pawns in his criminal enterprise.”
“As this indictment shows, we are committed to investigating and prosecuting anyone who thinks they can get away with stealing from insurance companies under the cloak of someone else’s stolen identity,” said Acting Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Christopher Iu. “Identity theft has a devastating effect on all its victims and those who seek to profit from this insidious crime will face serious consequences.”
According to prosecutors, the investigation into Allen’s alleged criminal activities began when he was stopped by US Customs and Border Protection officers while trying to re-entry into the United States after a one-day trip to Canada in September 2013. A subsequent investigation revealed that Allen possessed more than 50 documents containing personal identifying information of other individuals, including Social Security numbers, falsified drivers licenses, insurance policy applications, bills and bank account information, without authorization. The case was referred to the Office of Insurance Fraud Prosecutor early last year.
The indictment charges Allen with falsely assuming the identity of five of those individuals, including one current and three former postal employees, to defraud various insurance companies between September 1, 2012 and September 19, 2013.
Allen allegedly used the identities of the three postal workers and another person to obtain four fraudulent insurance policies in their names. He then submitted a false claim on each of the policies for thefts that never occurred.
The details of the alleged claims are as follows:
All but the claim to Ameriprise Auto & Home Insurance were paid.
Second-degree crimes carry a sentence of five to 10 years in state prison and a criminal fine of up to $150,000; third-degree crimes carry a sentence of three to five years in state prison and a criminal fine of up to $15,000.
The indictment is merely an accusation and the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
Deputy Attorney General Colin Keiffer presented the case to the grand jury.
Detectives Megan Flanagan and Kristi Procaccino coordinated the investigation with assistance from Assistant Bureau Chief Christina Runkle, Detective Kahlil McGrady, and analyst Theresa Worthington. Attorney General Porrino thanks United States Customs and Border Protection, the Department of Homeland Security, the
United States Postal Service’s Office of the Inspector General, and the National Insurance Crime Bureau for their assistance in the investigation.
Acting Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Iu noted that some important cases have started with anonymous tips. People who are concerned about insurance cheating and have information about a fraud can report it anonymously by calling the toll-free hotline at 1-877-55-FRAUD, or visiting the Web site at www.NJInsurancefraud.org. State regulations permit a reward to be paid to an eligible person who provides information that leads to an arrest, prosecution and conviction for insurance fraud.
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